Research Explorer – Technical Documentation of Routines
Wilfried Ehrenfeld
IWH Technical Reports,
No. 3,
2015
Abstract
The Research Explorer is a directory of institutes at German universities and non-university research facilities, which is provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). It is available for download for free and currently comprises ca. 23,000 entries. Two versions of this directory, which differ with regard to depth and coverage, are available to us. One version comprises 1712 entries, while the other holds over 22,000.
Primary goal of the presented routines is the comparison and complement of these two versions of the Research Explorer. The necessity for this arises from the differences in depth and coverage of the different versions. Furthermore, both versions are incomplete at some points, which means that individual institutions had to be added manually. The resulting data sets of the modified Research Explorer can subsequently be used for the mapping of cooperation relations.
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The Impact of Securitization on Credit Rationing: Empirical Evidence
Santiago Carbo-Valverde, Hans Degryse, Francisco Rodríguez-Fernández
Journal of Financial Stability,
2015
Abstract
We study whether banks’ involvement into different types of securitization activity – asset backed securities (ABS) and covered bonds – in Spain influences credit supply before and during the financial crisis. While both ABS and covered bonds were hit by the crisis, the former were hit more severely. Employing a disequilibrium model to identify credit rationing, we find that firms with banks that were more involved in securitization see their credit constraints more relaxed in normal periods. In contrast, only greater covered bonds issuance reduces credit rationing during crisis periods whereas ABS aggravates these firms’ credit rationing in crisis periods. Our results are in line with the theoretical predictions that a securitization instrument that retains risk (covered bond) may induce a more prudent risk behavior of banks than an instrument that provides risk transferring (ABS).
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Does the Plant Size–wage Differential Increase with Tenure? Affirming Evidence from German Panel Data
Daniel Fackler, Thorsten Schank, Claus Schnabel
Economics Letters,
2015
Abstract
We show that the major part of the plant size–wage premium in Germany is reflected in different wage growth patterns in plants of different size. This is consistent with the hypothesis that large firms ‘produce’ more skilled workers over time.
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The Structure and Evolution of Inter-sectoral Technological Complementarity in R&D in Germany from 1990 to 2011
T. Broekel, Matthias Brachert
Journal of Evolutionary Economics,
No. 4,
2015
Abstract
Technological complementarity is argued to be a crucial element for effective R&D collaboration. The real structure is, however, still largely unknown. Based on the argument that organizations’ knowledge resources must fit for enabling collective learning and innovation, we use the co-occurrence of firms in collaborative R&D projects in Germany to assess inter-sectoral technological complementarity between 129 sectors. The results are mapped as complementarity space for the Germany economy. The space and its dynamics from 1990 to 2011 are analyzed by means of social network analysis. The results illustrate sectors being complements both from a dyadic and portfolio/network perspective. This latter is important, as complementarities may only become fully effective when integrated in a complete set of different knowledge resources from multiple sectors. The dynamic perspective moreover reveals the shifting demand for knowledge resources among sectors at different time periods.
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R&D Cooperation with Scientific Institutions: A Difference-in-difference Approach
Gunnar Pippel, V. Seefeld
Economics of Innovation and New Technology,
No. 5,
2016
Abstract
Economists and business managers have long been interested in the impact of research and development (R&D) cooperation with scientific institutions on the innovation performance of firms. Recent research identifies a positive correlation between these two variables. This paper aims to contribute to the identification of the relationship between R&D cooperation with scientific institutions and the product and process innovation performance of firms by using a difference-in-difference approach. In doing so, we distinguish between two different types of scientific institutions: universities and governmental research institutes. For the econometric analyses, we use data from the German Community Innovation Survey. In total, data from up to 560 German service and manufacturing firms are available for the difference-in-difference analyses. The results suggest that R&D cooperation with universities and governmental research institutes has a positive effect on both product innovation and process innovation performance of firms.
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Young, Restless and Creative: Openness to Disruption and Creative Innovations
Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit, Murat Alp Celik
NBER Working Paper,
No. 19894,
2015
Abstract
This paper argues that openness to new, unconventional and disruptive ideas has a first-order impact on creative innovations—innovations that break new ground in terms of knowledge creation. After presenting a motivating model focusing on the choice between incremental and radical innovation, and on how managers of different ages and human capital are sorted across different firms with different degrees of openness to disruption, we provide firm-level, patent level and cross-country evidence consistent with this pattern. Our measures of creative innovations proxy for innovation quality (average number of citations per patent) and creativity (fraction of superstar innovators, the likelihood of a very high number of citations, and generality of patents). Our main proxy for openness to disruption is the age of the manager - based on the idea that only companies or societies open to such disruption will allow the young to rise up within the hierarchy. Using this proxy at the firm, patent and country level, we present robust evidence that openness to disruption is associated with more creative innovations, but we also show that once the effect of the sorting of young managers to firms that are more open to disruption is factored in, the (causal) impact of manager age on creative innovations is small.
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Taking the First Step - What Determines German Laser Source Manufacturers' Entry into Innovation Networks?
Jutta Günther, Muhamed Kudic, Andreas Pyka
International Journal of Innovation Management,
No. 5,
2015
Abstract
Early access to technological knowledge embodied in the industry’s innovation network can provide an important competitive advantage to firms. While the literature provides much evidence on the positive effects of innovation networks on firms’ performance, not much is known about the determinants of firms’ initial entry into such networks. We analyze firms’ timing and propensity to enter the industry’s innovation network. More precisely, we seek to shed some light on the factors affecting the duration between firm founding and its first cooperation event. In doing so, we apply a unique longitudinal event history dataset based on the full population of German laser source manufacturers. Innovation network data stem from official databases providing detailed information on the organizations involved, subject of joint research and development (R&D) efforts as well as start and end times for all publically funded R&D projects between 1990 and 2010. Estimation results from a non-parametric event history model indicate that micro firms enter the network later than small-sized or large firms. An in-depth analysis of the size effects for medium-sized firms provides some unexpected findings. The choice of cooperation type makes no significant difference for the firms’ timing to enter the network. Finally, the analysis of geographical determinants shows that cluster membership can, but do not necessarily, affect a firm’s timing to cooperate.
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Stress Testing and Bank Efficiency: Evidence from Europe
Iftekhar Hasan, Fotios Pasiouras
International Journal of Corporate Finance and Accounting,
No. 2,
2015
Abstract
This study examines whether and how the stress testing of European banks in 2010, 2011, and 2014 is related to their technical, allocative, and cost efficiency. Using a sample of large commercial banks operating in 20 European countries, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the authors perform comparisons between banks that were included in one of the three European stress tests and untested banks operating in the same countries. They estimate various specifications as for the inputs and outputs, cross-section and pooled estimations, and they also examine alternative samples as for the ownership of banks. In general, the authors conclude that banks included in the stress-test exercises are more efficient that their counterparties. The differences tend to be statistically significant in the case of allocative efficiency and cost efficiency, but not in the case of technical efficiency. With regards to the latter form of efficiency, the results depend upon the specification and the stress test in question.
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Are there Business Cycles “beyond GDP“? Alternative Measures to GDP at Business Cycle Frequencies
Jörg Döpke, Philip Maschke
Applied Economics Quarterly,
No. 2,
2015
Abstract
We discuss properties of alternatives or complements to GDP as a measure of welfare at business cycle frequencies. Our results imply that the suggested indicators show practically no cycle at all and their methodologies can be questioned. First, data are not available at an appropriate quality and frequency. Second, the suggested time series sometimes correlate negatively with each other. Third, cross-section and quasi-panel evidence based on different samples of countries reveals no impact of the stance of the business cycle on some suggested welfare measures. Therefore, alternative welfare measures do not show an equal picture on business cycle frequencies compared to GDP-based measures.
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